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carpisuns · 3 years

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New anon, but I saw the last one and I have some thoughts. Specifically, I have been obsessing over ml for the last month or so, and I’ve only seen three episodes, and they were the three released before crocoduel. And you know what? I wasn’t that into it, it wasn’t bad it just wasn’t half as engaging as fanon and fanworks have been for me.

I’ve also done this with the Magicians, Supernatural, and a couple others. I think the reason that this works, for some people, is because it is a more familiar and in many ways, easier way to discover and become attached to new material and new characters. Fan writers and artists are coming from a place of love for their source material (no matter what issues they may have with it) and that bleeds out into their work. Time is spent developing the characters and their feelings, their relationships, in ways that canon so often can’t or isn’t allowed to, and reading that, it’s very easy to fall in love with new characters very quickly. There’s also common AUs and dynamics that make it much easier to start something new.

And also: comfort characters. So many fans find common ground with characters and further project onto them, particularly in fanfic. And because of that it’s often easier to identify with a fan’s interpretation of a character than it is to identify with the canon’s, since you have these more deeply explored feelings and relationships based on a combination of canon and the personal experiences of the fan writer. Also, with these kinds of fics it’s extremely emotionally affirming since for someone who doesn’t have much of any connection with the source material, it feels like the original, even if you’re reading a large body of work by a lot of different people. And I’m so used to fanfic as a substitute for the emotional work and character development that shows/movies/books don’t have room for or aren’t willing to get into, that approaching a fandom as it’s own original piece of media in a way, feels very comforting.

That’s my perspective on it anyways, and why I do this. I do think it is a good thing to engage with the canon to an extent, even if it’s just watching a few clips (how I found ml) but I also don’t think you need any real connection or knowledge of it to be deeply invested in the fandom. Sorry, this got very long.

you know, i totally get being on, like, the fringe of fandoms and interacting with fanon to an extent without a proper investment in canon (I have a couple fandoms like that), but i honestly just can't imagine becoming super invested in a fandom when I am not invested in the source material...maybe that's just a difference between you and me, idk.

but also, i gotta admit that i'm struggling a bit to understand the reason. you yourself pointed out that fan work is enjoyable because the creator's love for canon bleeds into it. and isn't that the reason that you would want to give canon a real chance? obviously there is fan content made out of spite lol (and sadly a fair amount in this fandom), but to me most fan content is like a love letter to canon. like, "i adore this thing so much that it inspired me to create and share with other people who adore it." and what better recommendation is there than that?? i would think people would wanna familiarize themselves with canon in order to better enjoy fanon(?)

i completely understand your point about fan content delving further into characterization and relationships where canon hasn't/can't, and that is such a big appeal of fanfic/fanart. but i don't feel like that's a reason to not engage with canon? on the contrary, i feel like you are missing something important in your understanding and appreciation of that wonderful exploration if you haven't experienced firsthand the foundation that canon set. and maybe that missing thing is just your personal interpretation of a character/dynamic.

for example, i could say, "adrien agreste is this, this, and this and he would do this but not this." and of course i will think im right because my characterization is always perfect 😌sakjdfaldjks but someone else might have a slightly different interpretation, and someone else will have another interpretation, and when you mush all those individual takes on a character together, you will get a good sense of who they are, but you still don't have the Original™️ to draw your own interpretation from. idk, to me it sounds like basing your opinion of chocolate ice cream on what other people are saying about it without ever trying it yourself? ajsldakljf maybe that's an oversimplification but i do think that without experiencing it for yourself, your understanding will always be kind of incomplete.

idk, i big agree with everything you said about why fan content is special, but everything that is a point in fanon's favor is not a knock on canon. to me fan content feels pretty inseparable from canon, so it just doesn't compute to me to take canon out of the equation? then we would have nothing.

i feel like it's almost kinda trendy nowadays to be like, "oh this show actually sucks lmao but the fanon and AUs are good." like it's shameful to actually...enjoy source material? 😭 i mean i completely understand that miraculous ladybug is not gonna be everyone's cup of tea and that's fine! but if you truly enjoy the fan content that much i encourage you to give canon a real shot. it's not that surprising to me that you watched 3 recent episodes and didn't vibe that much, since you haven't seen the 3 seasons of buildup that lead to them. miraculous has a neat way of tying a bunch of things together so if you aren't familiar with all of it, you're probably missing out.

personally my love for miraculous was kind of a slowburn at first. i only started watching the show because my sister and i made a deal that forced me to watch the first few eps lol. and i didn't really vibe either. but there must have been enough of a spark there for me to keep watching bc for some reason i did and the more i watched the more i fell in love with it until it became the thing that occupies my brain more than anything else. i started with canon and then got into fanon, but it could easily go the other way too. and if you're already invested in the story and characters, i have to imagine it would be much easier to push past the initial cringe of "this is a show about a couple of teen furries rated TV-Y7 on netflix" lol and give anything you don't vibe with the benefit of the doubt.

again, to be clear, i'm not trying to judge or gatekeep here! i'm just saying this because i genuinely LOVE miraculous. it's my favorite show. that's why i make things for it. that's why i have this blog. i want people to watch it. so maybe, pwetty pwease, try watching the show you like so much? 🥺👉👈

(source bc i was too lazy to make my own so i stole this from twitter)

#anon #ask #fandom #long post

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atlas-the-worldbuilder · 4 years

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Final thoughts on Pokemon Sword/Shield

So in case you weren’t aware (which is most of you, I’m sure), a few months ago I started a Pokemon Shield blind Nuzlocke Run. And recently, I completed the main portion of the Nuzlocke by defeating the Champion. Having played through the game, though, I thought I’d give my final thoughts on it as a Pokemon fan, a gamer, and as a storyteller.

The Story & Characters

In all honesty, I rather enjoyed the main story of this game. The Pokemon League has always been presented like a professional sport (at least in the anime/cartoon), so it’s fun to see the games taking that perspective and rolling with it. It felt like an actual tournament/championship, to compete for the title in an officially organized manner, rather than just running a gauntlet of preset combatants.

In addition, I liked how they incorporated both the gym leaders and our rivals into the league story as not only combatants, but also as individuals with their own lives and aspirations. Marnie and Team Yell are adorable, Hop is... mostly tolerable, thus far, but by far my favorite rival character has been Bede, the Psychic/Fairy trainer. His haughty and prideful demeanor make him a delight to defeat, and his arc is a wonderful story to see unfold. I’m really curious to see what he gets up to in the after-story! The Gym Leaders are also fun to meet and battle; the Pokemon games as a whole have been gradually attempting to give more and more character to each of the Gym Leaders you meet, beyond just trials to overcome on your journey to victory. And while I always have a soft spot for the Hoenn & Sinnoh gyms, I like that they opted to have the Gym Leaders return in place of having more Elite Four members to fight I only wish I could get more opportunities to get to know them better, cuz there’s some standout leaders from this batch which I truly enjoy!

My biggest complaint with Sword/Shield’s story, though, has been the “Heroic Quest” plotline which has become increasingly common these days. I like the character of Sonia the researcher, and Oleana is satisfying to watch lose, my biggest complaint has been the pacing of the plot; the first 2/3rd’s of the story are us teaming with Sonia to gradually get the backstory revealed to us, and then in the last half hour, right as the Tournament’s getting underway, all the villains suddenly crawl from beneath the floorboards and run amok while you have to chase them down! There didn’t feel like there was a proper buildup explaining why the villain wanted to summon the legendary Pokémon, especially one which we heard next to nothing about! This brings about an interesting idea, however... what if instead, they had completely forgone any Legendary-Summoning stories until after the league? Honestly, I was way more invested challenging the gyms and fighting the champion than I was stopping the literal POKEMON APOCALYPSE from happening... so what if for future games, they saved those for after you became champion? As a sort of test of your skills, to prove your worth to bear the mantle you have taken! Maybe it wouldn’t have meshed well, maybe they needed to show of the game mascot more, I dunno... it’s just my thoughts.

The GamePlay

THEY FINALLY LET US TURN OF THE GODS-FORSAKENED TUTORIALS!!! PRAISE THE ALL-FATHER!!!

Ahem... In all honesty, I think I’d grown a bit too used to the 2nd screen of the DS-series games, but after a couple days of getting used to the mono-screen style again, I am pleased to say I found it very easy to settle back into. Though there are still some features I wish would make a return (the HM moves as opposed to public transportation, poison’s effect while walking, wild double battles, etc.), there are alot of fun mechanics introduced and remedies to older problems that have been introduced!

I think one feature which hasn’t had much said about it is the introduction of the Poke-Jobs system; this system allows you to send your Pokémon out on timed “away missions” to gain both experience and items. In the old days, if you wanted to passively level your pokemon, the only real option you had without introducing a second player was the Daycare center, and they could only raise two pokemon at once... and you had to pay for it. With Poke-Jobs, though, I can send anywhere from 5-10 teammates out for whatever amount of time I want them to be out for, and then come back later to see them lively and with goodies to show for their work! At first, I didn’t think I’d get much use out of this system; I, like many players out there I’m sure, prefer to guide my pokemon’s training personally, honing their movesets and guiding their levelling and points the way I want from them. But as I progressed further in my Nuzlocke, and as my daily life became busier and busier, I found myself sending my backup teammates out on jobs to keep them on par with my main team. Given that the Move Deleter/Tutor and Name Rater are now services that have been rolled into the Pokemon Center, yet another good thing this series has done, I found it much easier to keep my reserve Pokemon prepared in case I needed a substitution. Some Nuzlocke “Purists” may call that taking the easy way out, but... frankly, I don’t have the willpower to do that much grinding. I’m here to play a game and have fun doing it, dammit.

The Wild Area is another thing I’ve wanted to see from Pokemon for a long time - taking more steps to make the regions seem like an open world, with vast sprawling environments full of pokemon and secrets to uncover. I’ll admit, though, the execution is... not entirely perfect. While open expanses are fun to explore, the Wild Area did seem a bit... flat to traverse. And while the weather mechanics translating into battle are fun to deal with, the same sets of wild pokemon appearing did start to wear me down. I think what the Wild Area really needed, in the long run, was a system similar to how Black/White/Black2/White2 did - having seasonal progression ingame, where different pokemon would show up during different seasons, making the different places unique and novel all over again throughout the year. And for the record, many of my gripes with the Wild Area were addressed in the Isle of Armor’s expansion island. VASTLY superior, and much more fun to navigate and traverse.

...I’ll openly admit this: I was not a fan of Mega Evolution when it was first introduced in X/Y. I felt it was fine enough to see Pokemon battling without power boosts or “digi-volving” or whatever you wanna call it. When Sun/Moon Introduced Z-Moves, it felt like a step in the right direction, but at the same time, I ended up not using it very often. If I had to have a power boost to my pokemon, I would want it something that couldn’t be used as a crutch when the going gets tough - something that has a limited usability, and offers benefits specific to the time it’s being used. I say this because I initially approached Dynamax the same way: as just another power boost to level the playing field and shake up the battle meta which I don’t keep track of. However, after barely surviving all 8 gym leaders without using a single dynamax pokemon, I decided to give it a chance: after having completed the Isle of Armor’s subplot and gaining access to the Max Soup, I fed it to my Toxtricity Spike, and started running dynamax raids. As I started using it more and more, I started gaining a certain appreciation for it that I hadn’t before; this was something written in to being a unique cultural effect! This literally is imagining Pokemon as Kaiju! And for the most part, it works! While I still feel mega-lvl-power-boosts in pokemon are a huge waste, at the very least I can say Dynamax didn’t leave me with too bad a taste in my mouth. I do hope, however, that Dynamax stays a Sword/Shield exclusive power; given it’s cultural importance in Galar, and how Mega-Evolution was in the previous generation, I think having power boosts specific to regions works better than having the same stuff used across the board for every meta onwards,

What Do I hope for the Future?

I can’t say for sure if they’ll release a sequel game for Sword/Shield, but if they do... I would want them to make these minor changes:

Hold off the Heroic plot for after the League plot; devote the main first half of the game to just the gyms and league story like was done here, and then save meeting uber-god-tier Pokémon for after you’ve claimed the title of Champion.

Having said that, fix the pacing of how the Eternatus/Darkest Day subplot feels as it’s being played out. Offer us more insight into Rose and Oleana’s mindsets as they go about their business, and give us more coherent exposition from our field trips with Prof. Sonia.

Fix how the Wild Area looks - give it more variations for each sub-region and offer more varieties of habitats, like in the Isle of Armor. Or, alternatively, try to implement a seasonal mechanic to make the same areas change over the year, opening new paths and new avenues to explore!

Let Bede defeat Oleana. Give my boy some closure.

Allow us to see and interact with the Gym Leaders outside of the gyms more. I had, like, barely 2 lines of dialogue with Nessa, and even less for Milo. Not asking for a whole lot, just a bit more to tie us into who they are as people. Piers is best big brother. <3

That’s all I had written for now. If y’all want a biography of my champion team for my Shield Nuzlocke, let me know, and I’ll scrap a post together! <3

#Pokemon #Pokemon Sword Shield #Demotivated Review #Video Game #Atlas the Worldbuilder #nobody's gonna care about this #but that's ok

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dionysuswearsanorangetracksuit · 4 years

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Hello It's fmip anon again! Now I wanna watch just that scene when Isaac says those things about Jeff bc IT SOUNDS SO SWEET but I started watching fmip for lena and max so I'll keep pretending s3 doesn't exist. Something else you wanna rant about? I've seen spoilers. Nico? Ines and Frank? I read you

Ahhh yes it was so sweet 🥺🥺🥺 i genuinely think I might make a compilation of all the good Jeff/Isaac moments from this season just so I can go and rewatch that alone and pretend that everything worked out just the way I wanted it to lmao

And if I do end up doing that I’ll share it here and you can watch!

Oh my gosh ok I am about to go OFF about Frank and Ines ok,,, so like first of all I hated dash and ines bc he was just so pushy even after she kept saying no time and time again and then when she finally snapped and was like “I’m never going to date you” he got all pissed and acted like she was the one in the wrong forcing her to apologize. And then he left and she got together with pinky and I actually really liked them together bc she had already showed interest in him in the first season so even tho it was Pinky instigating lots of their interactions it didn’t feel like he was forcing her to do anything she didn’t want to do and I one hundred percent believe that if she had asked him to back off he would have BECAUSE....

In this season all of the ppl who went through to 1983 got their memories of time travel fully wiped so Ines didn’t remember Pinky at the beginning and he recognized that the best thing to do was to leave and not try and push her to remember him in order to keep her safe (so he left the show after like the first two episodes which I am v sad about 😔 he was my favourite time collector) but it wasn’t a huge huge deal until out of seemingly nowhere they just started to make frank and ines act like they like each other like?!!?????

Both of them JUST got out of a relationship (bc Thea went off on a world tour and Pinky just disappeared off the face of the earth apparently) and they’ve interacted before this season when they were all stuck in the bureau and they pretty clearly weren’t huge fans of each other right then

It’s just,,,, it was so out of nowhere with no basis whatsoever and it so clearly felt like, well we HAVE to have these characters in a relationship so let’s just throw them together bc why not and I’m so MAD bc it was basically Frank pushing himself on Ines the same way that all her other relationships started and the poor girl does not need to be thrown with any single guy that walks her way like,,, it had pretty much no bearing on the rest of the plot either it was literally just to have that ridiculous heterosexual ending where everyone needs to be paired up

INES DOES NOT NEED TO BE WITH A BOY TO HAVE VALUE GIVE HER A LEGIT LOVE INTEREST OR LET HER BE SINGLE

and then concerning nico he just felt like a very boring character. I was confused about which side he was on (since he worked for the bureau but then rebelled against his mom who was the head of the bureau but then was also still working with her???) which could have been good but I just really wasn’t invested in where he was going so it was more just annoying instead of intriguing

And also his kind of redemption came out of nowhere,,,,like he showed no signs of being good or feeling guilty and then suddenly he’s in love with Lena bc of course and so it’s that star crossed lover thing except rly he’s just kind of a dick and is the one who erased all their memories and Lena’s with Henry anyway so there ANOTHER pointless love triangle that I care about even less haha

Plus to replace max and Thea (and pinky) three of my favourite characters with him it just all kind of fell flat.

The Henry/Lena love interest was about as bland as you would think lol. Just lots of fighting and being jealous and not really acting like a couple and then getting mad at each other for spending time with someone else even tho they both say nothings going on and then kissing at the end and being like oh my gosh we’re finally together

So,,,,,nothing new lol 😂

Idk I feel like I was just so excited for the new season and then they got rid of so many characters that I didn’t know were being taken off and replaced them with ppl I didn’t care about but was somehow expected to care about the minute I saw them instead of giving them proper buildups. And then all the unnecessary romance stuff that cluttered the plot and had no real purpose. I was just very disappointed overall.

Ines and Jeffery has some cute friendship moments tho and that was nice to see. And the moments where Claudine and Lena were working together was pretty funny as well as getting to see Claudine trying to fit in to the present day but other than that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It wasn’t like,,,,overwhelmingly terrible or anything but more just like nothing excited me and some things that I was really looking forward to and really loved in the first two seasons just weren’t there anymore :(( made me sad

#find me in paris #its time for lizzie’s pointless ramblings again! featuring twice as many words as before #thank u for indulging me💓 i will join u in pretending s3 doesnt exist 😌#ask #lol i feel bad clogging the tag but also like im pretty sure 4 ppl max go on here so

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takerfoxx · 4 years

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The Rise of Skywalker Review

All right, new year, new decade, and all that jazz. Now, I do have a few things I wanna say about reflecting back on where I was and where I am now, personal growth and all that, but first, I have some major I need to get out of my system, something that’s been eating at my mind all week, something I really need to sit down and dissect to properly suss out my thoughts and feelings.

And that thing is this: what the fuck happened with The Rise of Skywalker?!

Now, just for the record, I’m that lapsed Star Wars fan who grew up with the original trilogy, who had a full shelf of EU novels that I read and reread over and over until their covers fell off, who spent untold hours replaying both of the Knights of the Old Republic games, was majorly let down by the prequels and became disillusioned by the franchise as a result, who reacted to the news of Disney’s acquisition of the franchise with cyncisim, who thought that The Force Awakens was decent but otherwise substance-less knock-off of A New Hope, who was bored to tears by Rogue One, who skipped Solo entirely, but who actually was surprising engaged and receptive to the subversive themes and new places that The Last Jedi took the franchise even if it was very flawed structurally and thought that it was the best Star Wars film since Return of the Jedi.

And hell, let’s just state my reasons right now. The Last Jedi came out at a time when I was just so tired of people trying to recapture lightning in a bottle with once-great franchises that had lived on long past their expiration date with trying to pass off clearly inferior knock-offs to their original installments as sequels. I mean, it can work, sure. Both of the Creed movies followed the Rocky movie formula pretty closely but were still great, and even if it didn’t click with me the way it did with other people, Fury Road was a fantastic film. The thing is though, both of those movies were still being handled by their original creators, specifically Sylvester Stallone and George Miller, while my beloved Star Wars and Jurassic Park had become divorced from their daddies and were now being handled by people who just. Didn’t. Get it.

And then The Last Jedi came along and was all, “Shut up about bloodlines, they don’t matter! Your main character is not the descendant of some already established character, she’s just some rando Force-sensitive that caught up in all this and decided to answer the call, so let her stand on her own! The Jedi were a well-meaning but immensely flawed, so leave them in the annuals of history and stop venerating them! Same with your heroes! Also, your Resistance has its hands dirty too because it’s a fucking war and war makes monsters of everybody while the little people suffer, sometimes you need to listen to the people in charge instead of being a hothead bucking the system, and the intimidating villains in black are in truth a bunch of insecure man-children playing dress-up to make them feel better about themselves and are pretty pathetic until they take that last step and become actual threats because that is how fascism works!”

Do you realize just how refreshing all of that was? Oh my God, is the Star Wars franchise actually…moving forward? Are we getting new stuff that’s not hampered by George Lucas’s unbearably hackneyed writing?

Yes, the whole Finn and Rose sidequest contributed nothing to the plot and ultimately went nowhere. Yes, the whole Poe vs. Admiral Holdo had the looming question of “Why doesn’t she just tell Poe that she’s got a plan instead of doing everything to set the team rebel off?” which undercut its message. These are major problems, I acknowledge that. The thing is, they are easily fixable problems that would have been smoothed out by a few more script treatments. It sucks that they weren’t, but as for me, they were roadbumps, not dealbreakers. I noticed them, I saw that they were major problems, but they didn’t make me angry, and I liked what they were trying to say enough for me to still be with it. And I felt that all the Luke/Rey/Kylo stuff was gangbusters (yes, I loved cranky, disillusioned old Luke. I know Mark Hamill didn’t care for it, but that’s fine, it worked great for me), so I ultimately left feeling pleasantly surprised. As if in, it was a flawed but very refreshing experience, one that said things I had been feeling for a long time and took things to interesting places that I actually wanted to see play out. I even got choked up when Luke let himself fade away when feeling absolutely nothing when Han died the previous film.

Unfortunately, that seemed to be a minority opinion, with many other Star Wars fan outright detesting it, sometimes to a pretty gross level (you know what I’m talking about). So when JJ Abrams was brought back on board to try to salvage things for the final installment, my reaction was, “I’m going to hate it, aren’t I?”

Still, I knew I was going to see it anyway, just to say that I did. And…welp.

…

Dafuq was that?

All right, all right, now before I continue, I need to acknowledge something. First of all, I have nothing against JJ Abrams as a person or even really as an artist. From all accounts he’s a cool guy who’s been taking all the backlash he’s been getting with a commendable amount of maturity, and he was placed in a very unenviable position by taking the reins in the midst of a very volatile situation. Plus, he had set a ton of things up in TFA that TLJ burned to the ground. Granted, it was a bonfire that I thoroughly enjoyed, but as the person watching his ideas just get cut off, that must have been frustrating watch. Like, what was he supposed to work with once he was brought back on after Colin Trevorrow had gotten the boot? And on a side-note, they really need to stop bringing Colin Trevorrow into big blockbuster franchises.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, we had the tragic passing of Carrie Fisher, which, in addition to being a terrible loss in general because she was a wonderful person that we’re all the poorer without, this movie was supposed to in some way revolve thematically around her, much like the TFA did with Han and TLJ did with Luke. But with her gone, they were just left with footage and recorded dialogue from deleted scenes from the first two films, which is next to nothing to go off of. Now there’s a debate to be had about whether or not it would be appropriate to CG her face onto a different actress, and I do get them feeling that doing so would be ghoulish…but they kinda already did that to bring Tarkin back in Rogue One, so…

Even so, that really sucks, and as awkward as the Princess Leia scenes are as a result, it isn’t their fault, so I’ll leave it at that.

And finally, it must also be acknowledged that a lot of the things I’m going to criticize them for were present in the original trilogy, and were just as awkward then. The OG movies weren’t perfect, folks. We’ve come to accept these flaws, but they were just as clumsy asspulls back then as they are now.

All right, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I actually want to start off on a positive note, specifically talking about the stuff I liked.

Let’s begin with the thing that I consider to not only be good, but actually kind of great: the relationship between Rey and Kylo Ren. Their weird Force-link in TLJ was one of the few new ideas that everyone seemed to like, especially since neither of them could really control it and were equally befuddled by it. It’s just a cool idea, a new aspect of the Force we haven’t seen before, and it’s slowly built upon, actually affects both the plot and the characters, and leads to some great scenes between the two of them.

And you know what? I was actually surprised by how much I liked these two together. After the wooden pile of bleh that was Anakin and Padme, I was bracing myself for more of the same. But as it turns out, Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver have an incredible amount of chemistry, and Adam especially was able to pull off the whole tortured bad boy who’s trying to be a villain but feels endlessly conflicted in a way that Hayden Christensen never could (though to be fair, Adam had way more to work with). So giving them that weird link where they’re forced to interact at different points despite being galaxies across from one another is a fantastic idea.

And I was happy to see that not only was this idea not walked back on, they actually built on it. Without giving too much away, there’s an amazing scene where they actually have a lightsaber fight despite being in two completely different locations and not really knowing where the other is, with the camera jumping back and forth from each other’s perspective and items from each other’s surroundings keep getting thrown into the other’s area and it’s honestly really great.

There were also a lot of visuals that were pretty great. The whole indoor lightning of the Sith Planet was neat, as was the flying stormtroopers, and that festival was pretty cool, and…

Actually, come to think of it, most of the scenes in this movie are, when viewed in isolation, pretty good, and could have worked if they had been buffeted by, you know, proper buildup, actual pacing, and taking the time to let events have weight.

But that leads us to this movie’s biggest failing, the problem that bring the whole thing crashing down. And that is it will just. Not. Slow. Down!

Seriously, don’t take a bathroom break, because if you do, you’ll come back to find everybody on a totally different planet doing something completely different, and the plot point you left on is completely in the rearview. It’s exhausting how quickly this movie jumps around from place to place, where we get a look at a setting and characters that might have been interesting if we got to spend actual time with them, only to drop it and we’re onto the next part. This isn’t a story, it’s a list of bullet points! It’s a three hour highlight reel of a whole-ass fourth trilogy, one that could have been cool to watch if they had chopped it up into three parts and fleshed them out into three movies. Hell, I’ll tell you where to end each one: Rey vs. Kylo on the Star Destroyer, Rey vs. Kylo on the wreckage of the Death Star, and the actual finale. Expand on the stuff in between, flesh things out with actual, you know, character development and consequences instead of zipping around, trying to come up with as many places as they can to cram into Star Tours’ randomizer.

And that’s what this basically is, an overly long Star Tours ride! Now I like Star Tours just fine, because it visits places that hold actual meaning due to being properly developed in actual movies, but these places just left me feeling hollow. And while we’re on the subject, did we really need another desert planet, ice planet, and forest planet combo? Spice things the fuck up! Say what you want about the prequels, but at least they tried to take us to cool new places.

And you know what? I’m going to say it. This movie is actually worse than the prequels. Not because it’s nearly as clumsily written and woodenly acted, or because it’s dragged down by dumb attempts at comedy; it’s none of those things. But at least the prequels were trying! George Lucas might be totally inept as a writer and should not have been given free reign, but there were attempts at things like proper plot and character development, pacing, plot twists, mystery, building things up and paying them off. Just go read the novelization of Revenge of the Sith. It’s fantastic! Same plot, same events happening, same conversations, but the dialogue is reworked to give the characters actual personality and it’s narratively told in an awesome and creative way and it’s overall just a great book. So George Lucas’s movies had the framework of a good story, he just wasn’t the right person to tell it.

In contrast, this movie has actual good acting, and the dialogue isn’t anywhere nearly as corny, but it’s just so unbelievably basic. It’s surface level writing, with barely a hint of cleverness and very little personality other than what the actors are about to wrangle out through their performances. But structure-wise, other than to expand it into a full trilogy, I don’t see how anyone can turn this mess into an engaging, single-movie narrative. So much happens, and it just feels so empty.

And…okay. Let’s address the Bantha in the room. Let’s talk about Palpatine.

Why is he back? Why? Just…why? He doesn’t need to be back! He doesn’t! It’s stupid, it’s hackneyed, it’s not even explained! I mean, there’s an offhand mention of cloning, so yeah, it’s feasible, it just makes no narrative sense! Hell, the fucking opening title crawl just plain says, “Yeah, he’s back. No reason, he just is” and goes on from that. And apparently he’s been behind everything that’s happened, like Snoke and Vader’s voice in Kylo Ren’s head and stuff, because things just can’t happen without being masterminded by someone I guess.

Really? This is the best they could come up with? I know TLJ cut off a lot of their plot branches, but goddamn it, this is the best you’ve got? Resurrect Palpatine? They do remember that the first two movies from the trilogy barely had the emperor as a presence, right? Vader carried them all just fine! Just run with that! Have Kylo Ren be the main antagonist! Have this be able his ascension to actual mega threat instead of Darth Vader cosplayer. If you want Ian McDiarmid to ham it up in the robes one last time (and hey, who wouldn’t?) just give him a cameo! Like, a holographic message to any potential successors Kylo Ren is looking for. Have him be the devil on Kylo’s shoulder in a is-he-real-is-he-just-a-hallucination sort of way. Make him something tempting Kylo Ren to fully embrace being the new Sith Lord, something Kylo has to overcome if he wants redemption. But don’t bring him fucking back! That’s just so, so stupid.

And Rey being Palpatine’s granddaughter kind of pisses me off. Her being revealed as a nobody from nowhere in the last film was great! I loved that idea! But no, let’s just retcon that whole business because we’re trying to apologize for the only one of these movies that had any balls and everybody has to be the descendant of someone important. Even fucking Lando gets a long-lost daughter in this! No, I’m not joking, he totally does.

Now, could Rey’s Sith heritage have worked? Sure! In of itself, it’s a rad idea, one that could have been used to explore all sorts of awesome themes…if that had been their plan from the beginning instead of a cheap attempt to replicate Empire’s big plot twist. But let’s face it: they threw it in as a desperate attempt to placate the fans. There never was any sort of plan. Abrams made the first movie with the sole intention of trying to recapture that nostalgic feel and fucked off, Rian Johnson took over with no notes and decided to do what he wanted, Trevorrow got fired, and Abrams got brought back for PR reasons because hey, people liked his movie, and he had to scramble to piece something together! Damn it, Disney! You literally have infinite resources! Hire someone with actual creative talent!

Oh wait, you did, and people hated it. Fuck.

So yeah. Rey’s parentage? Total waste, raises more questions than it answers. Chewie’s apparent death? Total waste, because he was actually on another ship! Though you could Force sense these things, Rey! Dark Side Rey in the trailer? Total waste, just a Force vision. That whole bit with C-3PO potentially sacrificing his entire identity? Total waste. No one seems to care, he gets no say, and after his memory gets wiped it’s treated as comic relief. Yeah, one last look at your friends indeed, Threepio. Some friends you have there. Oh, except Artoo’s got your memory backed up, so it doesn’t matter, just like everything else.

Oh yeah, and fuck Chewie’s medal! Who was really asking for that?

What a mess. What a disjointed, soulless, pandering mess. What a waste of potential, squandered on nothing. Bleh.

Oh well, at least we still have the Mandalorian. I’ve started watching that and it’s really cool so far.

#star wars #the rise of skywalker #rey #kylo ren #jj abrams #the last jedi #the force awakens #george lucas #rant

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surprisebitch · 6 years

Note

What are your anime suggestions, I’ve been trying to get into it but I don’t really know what to watch

Hey there! and yeeesss, i’m so glad you’re gonna give anime a try! there are so many good stories and plots in anime which dont exist in western media so it’s a great mode of entertainment! so as for recs, lemme copy and paste my previous answer to this similar question and update it to answer yours!

As for starter anime, I think these are good ones you can start with and have received widespread acclaim:

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

Hunter X Hunter

Gakuen Babysitters (feel good anime that has babies!!)

Yuri! On Ice (gay anime)

Madoka Magica

Cowboy Bebop

—–

You can keep track of what I watch and watched through following my MyAnimeList account:

https://myanimelist.net/profile/carlowesome

I do my best to update that one. It’s kinda like an active anime journal where you can document the anime you watch, plan to watch, and completed but here are individual links for each

watched - https://myanimelist.net/animelist/carlowesome?status=2

watching - https://myanimelist.net/animelist/carlowesome?status=1

to watch - https://myanimelist.net/animelist/carlowesome?status=6

If you need to read like some opinions about all the anime I watch and have watched then click ‘Read More’. I put a mini paragraph next to each anime and also categorize them. However, i don’t want to overwhelm you too much but I’ll just put this down for your reference anyway.

[last updated: 28 Apr 2018]

Currently watching:

Neon Genesis Evangelion - i admit it has a slow buildup but be patient because you will really find it intense and see how it’s not your typical mecca anime. so far, i think it seems to be a deconstruction of the genre and has alot of psychological themes

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - i dont know why my memory about this anime is somehow a blur. i’m sure i finished it but also not so i’m rewatching it and honestly i think this is a good starter anime. i know many people who do not normally watch anime and watched this

Boku no Hero Academia - it’s a recent anime and it’s really good! i think it’s on course to becoming a really big anime that will last many seasons at this rate. the story is about a world where majority of the inhabitants are heroes cause they have quirks (powers).. and the premise is that the main character doesnt have one but he wants to be a hero so watch and see how the story unfolds

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures (currently on Stardust Crusaders) - macho anime with an excellent plot! the guys are hot haha and many of the memes are in japanese so watch the original subbed but if you prefer not to read, the dub isnt bad. it’s very memey but the story is really entertaining and has unpredictable moments

One Punch Man - a parody of a superhero anime. tbh this isnt really binge-watch material cause it’s like a running gag and the story unfolds after episode 5 so i’ve just been watching this during my cardio days in the gym. but it’s a parody of a superhero anime

Hunter X Hunter - this anime is popular and it’s about hunters. so the beginning has the protagonist wanting to be a hunter and then he meets some fellow hunters along the way. it’s one of the highest rated anime in MyAnimeList (the RottenTomatoes equivalent of the anime world) so yeah check this out!

Tokyo Ghoul - the opening song is what captivated me to watch this tbh. although i heard the manga is better. it’s interesting though

Anime currently airing and I’m caught up on (just waiting for the next season to air)

Gakuen Babysitters - super feel good anime about babies!!!!!

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun - super funny anime. if you need a laugh, this will really lift you up. i watched the first two episodes in sub and dub back to back.. and i can vouch that the voice actors for the English dub are excellent. it’s actually even funnier.. but if you prefer subs, then that’s fine. it’s just the lines are more humorous, expressive and have more variety :) Nozaki’s voice is also attractive in the dub.. it’s still very Nozaki imo. this anime pokes fun at the shoujo manga yet still has romantic elements. it’s mostly comedy though

Shingeki no Kyojin / Attack on Titan - it’s the Game of Thrones of anime imo.. like it’s so GOOD.. it will just make you gag after every episode!!! it’s so intense and there are really badass characters. and the plot is really brilliant. like if you think season 1 was like WHAT THE FUCkk.. wait til season 2! this anime is crazy and exciting. not for the faint-hearted tbh cause it can be graphic and disturbing (also dont get attached. they could die!) but yeah, this anime is popular true and some say it’s overrated but that’s because it really deserves all the recognition and success it has for its amazing plot

Anime watched/finished:

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (Battle Tendency) - SONO CHI NO SADAMEEE JOOOOOOJOOOOOOOOOOOOOO the type of anime that’ll get you wanting to go to the gym and lift. that being said, it has a really amazing story

Kimi no Na Wa - universally lauded and recently released! it’s the best film released in 2016 imo. i swear it’s really next level storytelling

Rurouni Kenshin - i think i watched this anime twice/thrice.. It’s so suspenseful. it’s about samurais. and this anime made me interested about Japan’s history. it’s kind of a period drama with amazing fight sequences. and it’s critically acclaimed. it’s my father’s all-time favourite anime

Rurouni Kenshin OVA - it’s a prequel. also more violent and tragic than its anime counterpart.. like it’s really different from the series. but it’s so good. you’ll find out how Kenshin got his iconic X mark from here!)

Ghost Stories - THE DUB IS A MASTERPIECE! THE SUBBED IS SHIT. TRUST ME. the DUB is the popular one too cause it’s the superiour version. You really have to see this one. the anime bombed in Japan so the english dubbers got all the rights for the anime and they gave the go signal for the dubbers to do whatever the fuck they want and the end result is fucking hilarious. it shits on the Scary Movie Franchise tbh

Puella Magi Madoka Magica - i swear do not be deceived.. it is a really intense and surprisingly dark anime with excellent plot twists

Jigoku Shoujo / Hell Girl - angst, tragedy, philosophical anime analysing humanity’s hatred, need for vengeance, and suffering. Futakomori or the 2nd season is my favourite but it’s worth finishing the entire series. 3rd season is very painful to watch though and you dont have to watch that one tbh if you dont want to lol

Love Live! School Idol Project - i honestly just watched this like out of curiosity and just for kicks. i was not expecting to love it but after episode 3, i was like wait??? wasnt this anime supposed to be fun?? why am i crying?? so yeah, it’s super good, touching, entertaining and sweet! and the songs are really catchy and good.. TBH this anime is like so gay since there are no men (except Honoka’s dad) so yeah it passes the Bechdel Test with perfect score

Love Live! Movie - the conclusion to the anime!

Love Live! Sunshine - i watched this like a few months after finishing the original series cause i loved the original girls and i was worried i wont like these girls.. but honestly, you will appreciate them. and it has more gay subtext. btw tell me who your fave girls/best girls are after watching Love Live and Sunshine. my best girls are Umi Sonoda and Kanan Matsuura :>

Yu Yu Hakusho - occult, spirit world, ghosts, and fighting. you most probably have heard of this

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters - 1st series starring Yugi is iconic. it might seem juvenile though so i’m not sure if you will like it but the anime is really good if you love the card games

Digimon - can be very intense! better than Pokemon imo

Cardcaptor Sakura - this is also suspenseful. like the premise is essentially that Sakura has to catch all the “monsters” that were freed from this book. and it’s up to her to “capture” them and put into cards. magic, fantasy, and beautiful animation

Ranma ½ - this was so funny but the ending was disappointing cause it got cancelled apparently.. i really hope this will go out of limbo and give us a proper ending like InuYasha did but i doubt it

Danganronpa (murder plot twists, intense and despair-filled storyline. click this to know more about the premise. it’s like Battle Royale meets CSI meets How To Get Away With Murder. btw i highly suggest you play this game (it’s available on Steam) instead of watching the poorly condensed anime. so buy it on steam or you can download it how you like cause it’s one of the best games ever. and if you plan on watching this, there is no Danganronpa 2 anime so yeah just play the first game tbh. here’s a trailer of the game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwJeZPMhdUk. if ya dont wanna play the games then you can watch the anime. and after watching this, here’s a link of the playthrough of the 2nd game. it’s super fun, full of plot twists, and interactive)

Yuri On Ice - it’s a really cute gay anime. people will argue it isnt and its queerbait but i’m gay and alot of the things which happen are too much for just bros to do so yeah, i believe it’s canon gay or mlm. and i enjoyed it so you watch it and be the judge

Blood+ - vampires and sword fighting

Ghost In The Shell - it’s a sci-fi movie

Yakitate Japan - baking and cooking!

Getbackers - still up to debate if the duo are gay but if you google art of them, there have been official art released and it’s so gay lol. but yeah it’s shonen genre and it’s not canon gay

Cowboy Bebop - a CLASSIC. the dub is great!!

I don’t remember if i finished these but I watched a lot of episodes enough to recommend it and will rewatch them soon to relieve memories. I’m pretty sure I tuned in though and watched like 80%:

Fushigi Yuugi (i think this is shoujo but it has a nice adventure storyline)

Gundam series (i think i finished the first Gundam and the second)

Tsubasa Chronicles (it’s like a spin-off of Cardcaptor Sakura but they’re like all grown up and the plot is different)

Naruto

One Piece (i watched like the first four seasons)

Bleach (i remembered watching until episode 40 omg)

Great Teacher Onizuka (this is so funny tbh. i think i watched almost all of it)

Studio Ghibli films I watched:

Spirited Away

The Wind Rises

Ponyo

Tales from Earthsea

Anime I plan to watch (many suggested this to me and i plan on watching them so i’ll write them down here) :

Koe no Katachi (A Silent Voice)

Anohana The Flower We Saw That Day

Re: Zero

Your Lie in April

Shin sekai Yori

Gintama

More of Makoto Shinkai’s movies like 5 centimetres per second, etc.)

More Ghibli films too

Final Fantasy XV: Kingsglaive (after i finish FFXV game im watching this one)

Persona 4

Here you go!!!! I know it’s an extensive list. I’ll probably make this a masterpost of anime recs and will update this list, and add more soon. If you have any questions or anything, don’t be shy to message me! :)

#anime recs #anime #anime rec #Anonymous

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fcrmula · 2 years

Note

📋 !!!

i really need to make a proper wishlist page

i'd like to explore a whole bunch of different areas in n's life--- as you can probably tell extremely easily with the verse whose sole job is letting me write feral child n in a lovely little bubble where the interactions don't have to and in fact by design can't affect my main portrayal and is literally just a playground sandbox for me to play in with my little plastic shovel and little plastic bucket

i'm gonna take advantage of this to basically just. consolidate my thoughts on said areas in n’s life along with what i’d like to do with each point since it’s pretty much one big wishlist on its own. get ready for a big read i PROMISE the way that i am answering this prompt makes sense to me in my head btw i do my best to explain it at the end of this

basic verse type 1: canon/detached canon

child n: verse is already set up, it's detached from the main verse but is also a real reflection of n's childhood. i've done stuff with this but i'd love to do even more! (especially when it involves anyone who's interested in the whole heritage mystery thing because i have many a little secret here heehee)

early plasma n: something i'd like to explore, but perhaps not rp out, since the only people he's got contact with there is plasma and i find n more fun to write when his views are being/have been challenged. since i don’t think i’ll rp this one, anything written in this area of n’s life would 1. be 100% canon 100% of the time and 2. exclusively consist of drabbles/headcanon posts/etc

mid-bw n: the thing holding me back from making this a verse proper is i would find a LOT of difficulty writing mid-bw n for extended periods of time and i especially don’t think i could do it unplotted--- not now, at least. there’s too much i want to do with current n before i would want to delve too far into mid-bw n (for threads, at least). that being said i’d love expanding on him and the bw protag and especially making their encounters longer/adding in additional encounters, ESPECIALLY before the ferris wheel reveal. let the reveal be more of a betrayal. let them be friends first, then have that shaken when he tells them who he is. in fact, change the ferris wheel conversation a little as well. i’m a little on the fence about n immediately telling them he’s the king of plasma; on the one hand, i think there being more of a buildup would be nice, but on the other hand, it’s very n to think that being very honest very quickly would help, and he wouldn’t know why that might put a damper on a perfectly good ferris wheel ride when it’s barely had a chance to begin. definitely something i’d like to go into

basic verse type 2: branched off from canon

we’re back at child n again: but this time… adopt him. just straight up gank that baby. well actually don’t do that or the entirety of lostlorn is gonna beat your ass but like ghetsis managed to convince n to leave the forest, so can you if you try! obviously though this has to be like. planned out beforehand though lol but it’s something that would be fun to play with and also very cute

mid-bw n but ghetsis never happened: FULLY FERAL ADULT N LET’S FUCKING GOOOO i really really wanna write this actually. mid-bw PLASMA n is hard to write because he’s moodier and misanthropic, but mid-bw PLASMA, NOT KNOW n is just. child n but he’s an adult now and following the same basic plot of bw but in an ENTIRELY different way. i’ve actually got so much i wanna do with this it’d need its own bullet point list just to cover everything but like. i REALLY wanna do stuff with this verse i need a tag for it though and i’m not sure what to do for icons i vaguely feel like i should differentiate between regular n and this weird feral n because their designs are different (at least until someone takes him shopping for some real clothes, lol)

mid-bw n but it’s heroes of fire and thunder: i mean okay if i expand on mid-bw n the way i want to with adding more him + protag interactions that’s pretty close to hofat anyway (love that acronym always makes me giggle) but still. if you’re not familiar hofat is an official manga unrelated to pokespe that was never translated wherein n actually becomes the travelling companion of the bw protag (specifically touya so admittedly my isshushipping bias is a factor here) and isn’t just someone who occasionally has chance meetings with him (... iirc). and i LOVE that concept love love love it i was actually exploring it back in 2017, 2018ish with a touya rper but alas… one of us went inactive and now that i’m Not inactive i don’t really know if they’re still around in pokerp. shujinkuro if you’re out there i remember and miss you sorry my n was cringe as hell back then… but anyways. fun concept to explore at the time and something i’d love to delve into again

as you can see i have my own weird labelling system for verses/aus here “basic verses” are extremely to mostly canon-adjacent and very little about the fundamentals of who n is is changed especially the circumstances of his super early childhood so these all kind of fall under one umbrella of “a whole bunch of different areas in n's life” as opposed to like… a pmd verse or a jjba verse or something. that’s essentially my justification for using this One ask for all of these wishlist items it’s because theyre all categorized the same way in my head and there is so much i wanna do with current n too that it just makes more sense to have these be in one big post

#﹙ooc.﹚#﹙asks.﹚#458945 different distinct instantly identifiable adhd moments in this single post

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surprisebitch · 7 years

Note

Hi I'm new to anime & I trust and admire u!!! What do u recommend??

Currently watching:

Recently watched:

Love Live! Movie - the conclusion to the anime!

Love Live! Sunshine - i watched this like a few months after finishing Love Live! cause i loved the original girls and i was worried i wont like these girls.. but honestly, you will appreciate them. and it’s EVEN GAYER.. and is soo good too!

btw tell me who your fave girls/best girls are after watching Love Live and Sunshine. my best girls are Umi Sonoda and Kanan Matsuura :>

Anime watched/finished:

Kimi no Na Wa - universally lauded and recently released! it’s the best film released in 2016 imo. i swear it’s really next level storytelling

Puella Magi Madoka Magica - i swear do not be deceived.. it is a really intense and surprisingly dark anime with excellent plot twists

Yu Yu Hakusho - occult, spirit world, ghosts, and fighting. you most probably have heard of this

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters - 1st series starring Yugi. iconic!

Digimon - can be very intense! better than Pokemon imo

Ranma ½ - this was so funny but the ending was disappointing cause it got cancelled apparently.. i really hope this will go out of limbo and give us a proper ending like InuYasha did but i doubt it

Blood+ - vampires and sword fighting

Ghost In The Shell - it’s a sci-fi movie

Yakitate Japan - baking and cooking!

Getbackers - still up to debate if the duo are gay but if you google art of them, there have been official art released and it’s so gay lol. but yeah it’s shonen genre and it’s not canon gay

Cowboy Bebop - a CLASSIC. the dub is great!!

I don’t remember if i finished these but I watched a lot of episodes enough to recommend it and will rewatch them soon to relieve memories. I’m pretty sure I tuned in though and watched like 80%:

Fushigi Yuugi (i think this is shoujo but it has a nice adventure storyline)

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood (i feel like i actually finished this. idk why my memory is hazy concerning this anime. this is so popular. you should’ve heard of this iconic anime somehow. i watched and tuned in but i don’t remember how or when i stopped)

Gundam series (i think i finished the first Gundam and the second)

Tsubasa Chronicles (it’s like a spin-off of Cardcaptor Sakura but they’re like all grown up and the plot is different)

Naruto

One Piece (i watched like the first four seasons)

Bleach (i remembered watching until episode 40 omg)

Great Teacher Onizuka (this is so funny tbh. i think i watched almost all of it)

Studio Ghibli films I watched:

Spirited Away

The Wind Rises

Ponyo

Tales from Earthsea

Anime I plan to watch (many suggested this to me and i plan on watching them so i’ll write them down here) :

Koe no Katachi (A Silent Voice)

Anohana The Flower We Saw That Day

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Tokyo Ghoul

Re: Zero

Your Lie in April

Shin sekai Yori

Gintama

More of Makoto Shinkai’s movies like 5 centimetres per second, etc.)

More Ghibli films too

Final Fantasy XV: Kingsglaive (after i finish FFXV game im watching this one)

Persona 4

[last updated: 5 November 2017]

#anime recs #anime #rec #recs #Anonymous

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